Retail operations - THE KEY TO SUCCESS !

This blogger walked into a retail operation job from Consumer durables , some 6 years back ,thinking it should be easy , little does one realise the complexity off the role , one would assume that after a hard "Kitna number hua game" this should be an easy cup off tea ! well nothing can be further from the truth ...at least 6 years back the retail operations scenario was as follows . Retail operation surely is on off the key to success as all the startegy thats been discussed , the execution has to happen thru this departement so getting this act right is important .The first thing that hits one in the retail operation role is the .....

People Fear Factor :: As u would soon realise ur performance on the retail FLOOR is dependent on too many factors beyond your CONTROL , and the most complicated and important one being People .Retail is all about people your Customers or your staff , you get Your act right on this ,then most off the other issues like Location /merchandise etc gets taken care off .Getting ur act right is like asking one to do a quick sprint on to Mt Everest impossible according to me ! as whatever you do to ensure morale is up ,people get their incentives etc the great urge on moving out preferably into a newer industry or domain is always at the back off the mind . For instance when the call centre wave started , retail lost lot off experienced staff , then lost to telecom , am sure must be losing to other industry too .

The trick off managing an ever leaking bucket is to have atleast a set off good must retain staff who would lend continuity to the team in spite off the attrition ! These are members whom i call PILLARS OFF THE FLOOR , they act as a solid foundation , this works very well at the front end .

People People People People is the mantra in retail ! The HR Team in any Retail operations is constantly doing only thing that is recruitment , when they get the time out from this ,efforts on recognition / honor /contests /etc works well too among the staff . We used to be told that its all about Smile at a customer and Smile your ways to their hearts , its easier said than done , the retail operation role with its complexities hardly allowed one to think of Smiling , however hard u believed in Smiles !

People can make or break the retail operations , tight control on process laid down is must otherwise one could see that with help off the staff , merchandise /stocks could go out off stores in terms off pilferage's /there could be serious customer issues , plus off course there would be always someone in the set up thinking off breaking the rules /process , u need to be one step ahead always otherwise , u would be hit , as we were !

Big teams Size :Managing aspirations /issues for Big teams ( which is the case with most retail operations ) is a BIG BIG challenge as a head off retail operations one would face almost daily , this is a great learning ground too .

Getting the right balance between being tough and being lenient is necessary , as you would soon realise that the STICK policy doesn't work positively ,always ! so it has to be Stick + carrot + Pillars on the floor that will get u somewhere on this front ,other wise its a constant fear factor , off whether u have the right people managing ur business or not !

Customer is not a Ghost !! ! Unlike most other businesses where the customer is virtually a ghost !seen by most marketers and sales teams rarely , and when the customer comes in front in most industry it drives a chill in the spine off most , this is one industry in which the customer stares at you daily , how do we meet the expectations off the customers / how do we deliver the best experience ( with the people issue always boiling on ) , there would be days in which u will suddenly have a spurt off customer entry but the majority off the team would be on leave !u will lose sales for the day plus maybe customers forever !The customers can be bound with amazing loyalty by having a loyalty program, dont know whether it actually drives in traffic now ,( it used to be great tool to drive traffic earlier , guess each retailer has a card these days )but making customers feel wanted helps .

For instance the idea off an one day preview for your loyalty program members before the EOSS( end of season Sale) starts ,was a good idea but we added punch to it by giving all the elite customers a car wash , early breakfast , morning newspaper , plus hot tea and exclusive escorts for the higher end customers to take them around . So loyalty works, but you add with this Great Customer service recovery then you have a great weapon in hand ,we were amazed to c the trend that whichever customer was involved in a customer service issue and there was a genuine effort to recover from the issue the customer would come back to your store again and again , so essentially customer loyalty ,managed well and great customer recovery with empowerment at the front end desk helps .

Retail Floor was a test lab ::Nothing works and shows results faster than on a retail floor , u conceive an idea implement it on the floor , u will get to the see the idea working or not working in a matter of hours , no other business gives u a chance to gauge product /promotion so instantly than a retail floor environment !

Current scenario

Sunrise =Chaos :: retail being part off the sunrise sectors in India along with say an insurance /telecom , is as chaotic as it gets currently , ask anyone whats happening no one has a clue , the days off being customer centric which is so important for survival are all gone , customer is just part of another days work in retail operation these days , customers don't have great degree off loyalty either , go to a store there is chaos all over sometimes you wonder how are things under control ! seems to be chance ,

Each time you walk in you see a new set of faces , i guess with expansion of retail each retailer has tried to catch the expansion game ,on the real estate front with minimal control on the retail operations rigour that's needed , its all loose now . In this process the differentiation of "experience" that some retailers were trying to drive in has all gone out off the Window ! .....MORE LATER !

PS :: blogger is currently out off retail operations for the past 4 years !